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Greek Life

November has really been plugging along, hasn’t it? All the weeks since the end of fall break seem to have passed by at a breakneck, Usain Bolt-like pace, to the point that Thanksgiving is less than a week away. Every day in my classes after I write the day’s date at the top of my notes, I always just stare at that steadily increasing number, as if glaring at it hard enough would magically shift the month back a week.

It’s only early November, but holiday indicators are starting to show up. Albertson’s has Christmas candy out, I have holiday themed soap in my bathroom, and Bon Appétit has sent out its advertisement about buying holiday pies. This afternoon, I’ll be helping put up one more indicator of the impending Christmas season, with the Giving Tree.

I just realized that I forgot to post an update about my living arrangements! To those that kept up with the blog over the summer, you'll know that the Delt Haus had a fight with a grease fire and lost around the beginning of August. The rennovation process kept me out of the room I claimed for over a month, which meant I was still living at my parents' place during the start of Fall Term.

After a long week of recruitment, I’m back on the quiet floor of the library. By the way, if you saw my post last week about formal recruitment, and then wondered where it went, I had to take it down after being abruptly informed that it was considered a violation of recruitment rules, as it constituted undue contact with potential members.

Around this time last year, the end of summer seemed to be ending on solid ground. My future was comfortably set in stone; no last minute changes of plan were on any horizon. I had my books, I had many of my things packed, I knew when I would be moving back to campus and who I would see when I got there, and I even had a good, end of summer hangout session planned with my closest local friends. But this year, with only a couple more weeks before fall classes start, I feel like I'm in a state of flux.

In the Japanese religion of Shinto, a great emphasis is made on cleanliness and purity, with various elements and events contributing to the purity not only of the individual, but of the individual's surroundings. One of the most major catastrophies in Shinto is death, said to be the most impure of all things. A house in which a death has occurred must be scrubbed from top to bottom to appease the spirits and prevent further spiritual damage.

I think the state of my room says a lot about how quickly this year has passed. I think back to move-in day all the way back in September, when my floor was spotless, my books all organized, and my backpack totally empty. Now, with only 15 days left of term (but who's counting?), my room is in a state of disarray. I step over discarded notebooks and papers on my way to my drawers, stuffed haphazardly with poorly folded clothes, flip over a few of those notebooks and papers to find a specific paper I need, and then get close to pulling a muscle trying to lift my backpack from my bed.

C of I is known far and wide for having intelligent and multi-talented students, but did you know that Yotes are extrordinarily good-looking as well?

Mr. CASAnova is a man-pageant, which showcases the dashing good looks you see around campus. Ten extremely talented men shed their inhibitions (and the occassional shirt) to raise money for a great and very worthy cause, CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates). They dressed as sea creatures, they danced, they rapped, they played guitar, piano, and slammed some poetry. They really put themselves on display.

Other than finals weeks, I don't think I've seen my fellow Yotes more stressed out than during the week of Room Draw. Everywhere I went last week, I would run into someone frantically fretting over the number they had been assigned, worrying that their previous residential plans would now be undermined by sheer luck (or unluck) of the draw. Combined with the fact that the number of single rooms has dwindled since last year in preparation for the large incoming freshman class, my fellow sophomores seemed afraid for their futures, even moreso than I did during registration last semester.